Welcome to the bumper final episode of of Musing on the Bard: a podcast for the Shakespeare curious for 2025, hosted by Australian actor, Sally McLean, featuring today's guest, the fascinating American actor: Frank Collison.Known to Shakespeare Republic audiences for playing the award-winning role of "Prospero" in Shakespeare Republic: #AllTheWebsAStage (The Lockdown Chronicles), Frank Collison is a Los Angeles based actor and now, writer. Frank earned a BA at SF State during the late 60’s. He performed street theatre in San Francisco then moved up to the Sierra Nevada mountains where he helped establish Pinecrest Theatre.After earning an MFA at UC San Diego, Frank became a traveling player who once toured 39,000 miles performing as “Miss Havisham” in Great Expectations. He has also acted in Montana, Boston and Louisiana, at Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts and Denver Center.Finally settling in Los Angeles in the mid 80’s, Frank was a founding member of Pacific Resident Theatre, now in it’s 40th year. He continued his theatre career at PRT, the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Los Angeles Theatre Center, The Rogue Machine and The Road.Frank has supported his theatre career with his work in film, television and voice-over. Most notable work is as “Horace Bing” a series regular on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, O Brother Where Art Thou?, The Village, Wild at Heart, and Twin Peaks.Join Frank and podcast host, Sally McLean, as they discuss Frank's time performing during the Vietnam War protests, his vast experience in American theatre from childhood to now, the power of theatre to inspire change, thoughts on the casting process as an actor, creating character, the demands of performing Shakespeare, the perils of audience interaction and much, much more in this wide-ranging and insightful conversation.To find out more about Frank and his work, visit his IMDB profile at https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0172806/ or his Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/frank.collison.7/ and read his bio in full at

Welcome to the penultimate episode of Season 1 of Musing on the Bard: a podcast for the Shakespeare curious, hosted by Australian actor, Sally McLean, featuring today's guest, the wonderful Australian actor: Phoebe Anne Taylor.Known to Shakespeare Republic audiences for playing the award-winning roles of "Sebastian" and "Launce" in Shakespeare Republic and "Jane Porter" in Dark Arcadia, Phoebe Anne Taylor is a Melbourne based theatre maker, actor and writer. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Honours in Creative Writing from the University of Melbourne and Honours in Performance from Monash University, and was a graduate of the inaugural Full Time ensemble of the Howard Fine Acting Studio Australia.In 2019, Phoebe became an alumni of the Arteles Creative Centre in Finland, having completed the Silence Awareness Existence residency. She was awarded runner up for her work in the 2020 Alpine Fellowship International Theatre Writing prize, and has had work produced at La Mama and the Butterfly Club.Theatre acting credits include “Ricki” in Apples and Shoes’ the art of f*cking and no blinding light, both of which she also wrote, performed at La Mama & Adelaide Fringe, a vocalist in Old Man Nanook for 3Mask, “Maya (Marcus)” in Four Letter Word Theatre’s Titus Andronicus and “Naomi” in Speak English or Die.Film credits include “Raylene” in Michael Liparota’s Raylene and Charlie, “Jasmine” in Liam Firmager’s Revelation and Jaklene Vukasinovic’s Firelight.Phoebe is also a regular narrator for the Vision Australia Information Library Service and has narrated several audio books for various publishers.Join Phoebe and podcast host, Sally McLean, as they discuss the value of casting well, how to keep your sanity as a producer, a healthy way to approach acting process, what value does the iambic pentameter really have, the importance of deprogramming, the nature of poetics and language, the importance of context and much, much more in this wide-ranging and insightful conversation.To find out more about Phoebe and her work, visit her Instagram profile at https://www.instagram.com/thingsfromiso/ and read her bio in full at

Welcome to Musing on the Bard: a podcast for the Shakespeare curious, hosted by Australian actor, Sally McLean, and featuring today's guest, the wonderful British actor: Leo Atkin.Known to Shakespeare Republic audiences for playing the award-winning role of "Puck" in Shakespeare Republic: #AllTheWebsAStage (The Lockdown Chronicles), Leo has been an actor for 40 years, and has been privileged to perform in some of the most beautiful and historic theatres in the world, as well as some of the most wonderful castles in Europe, including the Manoel Theatre, Malta, Schloss Hohenzollern (apparently the model for the castle in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and Lenzburg Castle, among others.Theatre credits include Twelfth Night, See How They Run, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear touring Europe, Scandinavia, and most memorably, Japan, The Old Curiosity Shop, Merchant Of Venice, Dick Whittington, Beauty And The Beast, Treasure Island, the cult musical Saucy Jack And The Space Vixens at the Albany Stage for the National Theatre and almost 2 years as “George”, the boxing coach, and covering “Billy’s Dad”, in Billy Elliot The Musical UK and International tour.TV credits include dramas Coronation Street, Doctors, Merseybeat, Coasting and 999 for the BBC, the second series of Sky TV’s Brassic, and the BBC comedy series, The First Team.Join Leo and podcast host, Sally McLean, as they discuss the countries who love Shakespeare almost more than the British (one was rather surprising), the value of performing Shakespeare in your natural accent, the most important trait required to tackle Shakespeare as an actor, the danger of homogenising Shakespeare's works, the pros and cons of amateur theatre, how Sally approaches casting Shakespeare Republic and much, much more in this wide-ranging and insightful conversation - available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible and more.To find out more about Leo and his work, visit his IMDB profile at https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1692728/ and read his bio in full at https://musingonthebard.com/about-our-guests/leo-atkin/You can watch Leo playing "Puck" fo

Welcome to Musing on the Bard: a podcast for the Shakespeare curious, hosted by Australian actor, Sally McLean, and featuring today's guest, the wonderful British actor: Yolanda Ovide.Known to Shakespeare Republic audiences for playing the award-winning role of "Juliet" in Shakespeare Republic: #AllTheWebsAStage (The Lockdown Chronicles), a performance that won her Best Supporting Actress in a Drama at the 2021 British Web Awards in the UK, Yolanda trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) in the UK. Since graduating, she has appeared in numerous professional theatre productions, most recently: Noughts & Crosses at Regents Park Open Air Theatre, Alterations at the National Theatre, Slave: A Question Of Freedom at Riverside Studios & on Tour, Gangs Of New York and The Importance Of Being Earnest at Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, Jitney at The Old Vic Theatre, Splintered at Soho Theatre, Groan Ups UK Tour for Mischief Theatre and Unbelievable at The Criterion Theatre, which also marked her West End Debut.Join Yolanda and podcast host, Sally McLean, as they discuss the challenges of filming Shakespeare in your car in full view of the neighbours, will Shakespeare always be a staple of the theatre, why you should do things that scare you, how Sally gained the support of Sir Nigel Hawthorne as her Honorary Patron, the importance of having a sense of play as artists and people generally, how curiosity is vital as an actor and much, much more in this wide-ranging, joyful and insightful conversation - available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible and more.To find out more about Yolanda and her work, visit her at https://www.instagram.com/yoyoyo147 and read her bio in full at https://musingonthebard.com/about-our-guests/yolanda-ovide/You can watch Yolanda playing "Juliet" for Shakespeare Republic here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYWOBzcr604And you can see Yolanda in Alterations for the National Theatre, U

Welcome to Musing on the Bard: a podcast for the Shakespeare curious, hosted by Australian actor, Sally McLean, and featuring today's guest, the fabulous Australian actor: Tim Constantine.Known to Shakespeare Republic audiences for playing the award-winning role of "Hamlet" in Shakespeare Republic: #AllTheWebsAStage (The Lockdown Chronicles), Tim's stage roles include “Jerry” in Pinter’s Betrayal; “Freddie Filmore” in It’s A Wonderful Life; “David O. Selznick” in Moonlight & Magnolias; “Louis Ironson” in Angels in America; “Lady Bracknell” in The Importance of Being Earnest; “Rosencrantz” in Rosencrantz and Guldenstern Are Dead; “Randall McMurphy” in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; and “Lord Alfred Douglas” (‘Bosie’) in both The Judas Kiss and Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde.Tim also originated the role of “Captain Moonlite” (bushranger, lay-preacher, ‘madman’, and queer icon) in the acclaimed Moonlite – a new Australian musical play by bestselling author Gabriel Bergmoser. People might also have caught him in the usual line-up of Australian TV shows, including Underbelly, City Homicide and Neighbours.Join Tim and podcast host, Sally McLean, as they discuss how best to approach Shakespeare as a newbie, the realities of being a working actor, mental health in the industry, how to bring yourself to Shakespeare when performing his characters, which of Shakespeare's plays they're not fans of and why, did Shakespeare have a problem with women and much, much more in this wide-ranging, fun and insightful conversation - available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible and more.To find out more about Tim and his work, visit him at https://www.instagram.com/tim_actor_bibliophileTo read his full biography, head to: https://musingonthebard.com/about-our-guests/tim-constantine/You can watch Tim playing "Hamlet" for Shakespeare Republic here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eePFJa7En-gSeason One

Welcome to Musing on the Bard: a podcast for the Shakespeare curious, hosted by Australian actor, Sally McLean, and featuring today's guest, the fabulous American actor: Laura Gardner.Known to Shakespeare Republic audiences for playing the award-winning role of "Constance" in Shakespeare Republic: #AllTheWebsAStage (The Lockdown Chronicles), Laura has appeared on Broadway in Smile, Off Broadway in The Cocktail Hour, Other People’s Money and Welded directed by Jose’ Quintero. She toured nationally in Showboat, Doonesbury, Oliver and My Fair Lady.Her extensive regional credits include the Arena Stage (DC), Huntington Theatre (Boston), Cleveland Playhouse, McCarter Theatre, and the NC Shakespeare Festival in roles that ranged from “Lady Macbeth” to “Miss Hannigan”. Los Angeles credits include six plays for the Pasadena Playhouse, Will Geer Botanicum, Westwood Playhouse, Tiffany Theatre, Fountain Theatre, Deaf West and the Celtic Arts Centre. She is a member of the Road Theatre and Rogue Machine.Some of her TV and film credits include Guest Star appearances on Chicago Med, Law And Order: SVU, Seal Team, Animal Kingdom, Outcast, The Romanoffs, Criminal Minds and My Name Is Earl.Join Laura and podcast host, Sally McLean, as they discuss how Shakespeare can make you a better actor and person, the role actors can play in society, the importance of learning, the challenges of teaching, what other careers they might have had, the value of performing Shakespeare from the heart and much, much more in this wide-ranging and joyous conversation - available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible and more.To find out more about Laura and her work, visit her at https://www.actingwithlaura.comYou can watch Laura playing "Constance" for Shakespeare Republic here: https://youtu.be/OQA9Gzwz6o0?si=4sU3fWNQhONRe5sRSeason One of Musing on the Bard features a plethora of fascinating guests from Australia, the UK and the USA discussing Shakespeare, acting, creativity and more. Head to our official site for all listening links and more information:

Welcome to Musing on the Bard: a podcast for the Shakespeare curious, hosted by Australian actor, Sally McLean, and featuring today's guest, the wonderful American actor: Christopher Kirby. Known to Shakespeare Republic audiences for playing the award-winning roles of "Thomas More" in Shakespeare Republic Season Two, "Richard II" in Shakespeare Republic: #AllTheWebsAStage (The Lockdown Chronicles) and "Benedick" in Speaking Daggers, Chris began his career in his native USA before moving to Australia and has a long list of varied Film and TV roles to his name, both here and in America. Television roles include Quantum Leap, Space: Above and Beyond, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Population 11, Apples Never Fall, Preacher, The Lost World, Beast Master, The Burning Zone, Wolf Creek, Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Miss Fisher’s Modern Mysteries, The Starter Wife, Marshall Law, NCIS: Sydney, Neighbours, Ocean Girl, Flipper and The Games. Film credits include The Matrix trilogy, Queen of the Damned, Crackerjack, Visitors, Predestination, Strange Bedfellows, Macbeth, Daybreakers, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Mao’s Last Dancer, Dora and the Lost City of Gold and the cult classic Iron Sky. His career in screen has seen him playing opposite actors such as Ethan Hawke, Natalie Portman, Keanu Reeves, Stuart Townsend, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Lucy Lawless, John Jarret, Eva Longoria, Temuera Morrison, Michael Caton and Paul Hogan, to name but a few. Join Chris and podcast host, Sally McLean, as they discuss how Shakespeare can shape and affect you as an actor, the impact actors can have on their communities, why Shakespeare's writing appeals so widely, is Shakespeare problematic, the surprising roles both have played on stage and much, much more in this thought-provoking and in-depth conversation - available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible and more. To find out more about Chris and his work, visit him at https://www.christopherkirby.net or read his bio on our site:

Welcome to Musing on the Bard: a podcast for the Shakespeare curious, hosted by Australian actor, Sally McLean, and featuring today's guest, the wonderful Australian actor: Sass Pinci. Known to Shakespeare Republic audiences for playing the award-winning role of "Mark Antony" in Shakespeare Republic: #AllTheWebsAStage (The Lockdown Chronicles), "Puck/Ghost" in Walking Shadows Vol. 2 and "Elizabeth Grey" in Dark Arcadia, Sass is an award-winning Actor, Writer, Director, and Producer. Predominately a theatre performer from a very young age, the focus more recently has turned to screen, with notable recent credits including “Queen Evil” in award-winning Amazon Prime horror feature Queen Evil and “Grace” in the upcoming Australian indie feature When the House is Empty.As a producer and Director for both stage and screen, Sass has led and aided many projects to fruition, such as Musical Director for WIT INC’s production Dear Mama: there’s something I have to tell you, Director, writer and producer of popular theatre production Frypan, Director of the successful Fringe show My Failed Career and Director of Category 6’s The Proposal, as well as Producer and Sound Designer for Incognita Enterprises' series Dark Arcadia.Join Sass and podcast host, Sally McLean, as they discuss authenticity in performance, how their shared Opera backgrounds may have helped with first tackling Shakespeare, how artists serve society, how to authentically play Shakespeare (spoiler: it doesn't involve ruffs or gestures), why "picking a lane" for artists might not be useful advice and could be harming you as an actor, the importance of knowing history and hear Sass performing her award-winning composition of "The Willow Song" from Dark Arcadia, plus much, much more in this thought-provoking and in-depth conversation - available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible and more.To find out more about Sass and her work, visit her at ht

Welcome to Musing on the Bard: a podcast for the Shakespeare curious, hosted by Australian actor, Sally McLean, and featuring today's guest, the wonderful USA actor: Miguel Perez.Known to Shakespeare Republic audiences for playing the award-winning role of "The Chorus" from Henry V in Shakespeare Republic: #AllTheWebsAStage (The Lockdown Chronicles), Miguel has worked in films with the likes of Johnny Depp, Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford, Hilary Swank and many others. He has extensive film & TV credits, including Million Dollar Baby, Ocean’s Eleven, Clear and Present Danger, Artificial Intelligence: AI, The Rookie, The Resident, Seal Team, Designated Survivor, Fear The Walking Dead, Bones, Madam Secretary, Murder in the First, Cold Case, 24, The Shield, ER, Seinfeld, Star Trek: Voyager, The Wonder Years and CSI to name but a few. Onstage he has worked in over fifty Broadway, off-Broadway and regional theatre productions with many Theatre luminaries including Mark Rylance, Margaret Whitton, George Wolfe, Sir Patrick Stewart, Kevin Kline and many, many more in productions such as The Tempest, Romeo & Juliet, Cyrano De Bergerac, Hedda Gabler, Henry VIII, Merry Wives of Windsor and Antigone – and has been a regular fixture at the annual New York Shakespeare Festival.Join Miguel and podcast host, Sally McLean, as they discuss approaches to acting, how Art can be dangerous, the power of Art to inspire and create community - even in the darkest of times, how to avoid some of the pitfalls of performing Shakespeare, the joy of collaboration and much, much more in this thought-provoking and in-depth conversation - available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible and more. To find out more about Miguel and his work, visit him at https://www.miguelperezactor.comYou can watch Miguel playing "The Chorus" from Henry V for Shakespeare Republic here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zboyrc8uQrMSeason One of Musing on the Bard features a plethora of fascinating guests from Australia, the UK and the

Welcome to Musing on the Bard: a podcast for the Shakespeare curious, hosted by Australian actor, Sally McLean, and featuring today's guest: wonderful UK actor: Danielle Farrow. Known to Shakespeare Republic audiences for playing the award-winning role of "Henry IV" in Shakespeare Republic: #AllTheWebsAStage (The Lockdown Chronicles), Danielle’s enduring love of Shakespeare has led to playing a wide range of roles including Juliet, Shylock, Viola, Oberon, Lysander, Prospero, and the Bawd in Pericles, as well as writing and performing her one-person show, inVocation: A Shakespearean Horror, which premiered at the Edinburgh Horror Festival. Danielle has worked in immersive theatre, commedia dell’arte, devised productions, and new writing. Notable stage credits include The Last Days of Mankind at Leith Theatre with The Tiger Lillies, I Promise I Shall Not Play Billiards for Tightlaced Theatre, as well as "Lady Macbeth" in I'm a Shakespearean Character, Get Me Out of Here! touring across Italy and Scotland. With a background in philosophy, theatrical training, and cross-disciplinary performance, Danielle is also a Shakespeare coach, speaker, and consultant.Join Danielle and podcast host, Sally McLean, as they discuss acting, Danielle's unique take on Shakespeare and performance, the vulnerability involved in acting, current beauty industry standards and how that relates to the Elizabethan era, the technical aspects of performing Shakespeare, the perils of AI and much, much more in this thought-provoking and in-depth conversation - available here on YouTube, as well as Spotify, Apple and more.To find out more about Danielle and her work, visit her at https://www.daniellefarrow.comYou can watch Danielle playing "Henry IV" for Shakespeare Republic here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq4bDDAitRYSeason One of Musing on the Bard features a plethora of fascinating guests from Australia, the UK and the USA discussing Shakespeare, acting, creativity and more. Head to our official site for all listening links and more inform

Welcome to the first episode of Musing on the Bard: a podcast for the Shakespeare curious, hosted by Australian actor, Sally McLean, and featuring today's guest: beloved Aussie actor: Don Bridges. Known to Shakespeare Republic audiences for playing the award-winning role of "Corin" in Shakespeare Republic: #AllTheWebsAStage (The Lockdown Chronicles), Don's work in theatre includes performances in London, New York, San Francisco, Melbourne, Adelaide, Darwin, Hobart, New South Wales and Western Australia and he has appeared on stage in over twenty-five productions for Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC). He also has an extensive screen career, with a large range of film and TV credits in much loved Australian, UK and US film and TV. You can catch Don's work playing "Peter Wayne Flood" in Season 3 of The Twelve, starring Sam Neill, now available on BINGE in Australia, with upcoming releases on TVNZ in New Zealand, Amazon Prime in the USA and ITVX in the UK.Join Don and podcast host, Sally McLean, as they discuss acting, Shakespeare, Don's varied and fascinating career to date, the challenge of open air Shakespeare, living and working in the UK as an Australian actor, accent work, mentorship, the connection between Mad Max and Richard III, repertory (stock) theatre, musical theatre, how they both came to Shakespeare and much, much more in this lively and fascinating conversation.To find out more about Don and his work, visit him at https://www.donbridges.comYou can also see all his film & TV credits to date on his IMDb Profile: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0108725/You can watch Don playing "Corin" for Shakespeare Republic here: https://youtu.be/m0g_KBR3ANM?si=9ixobzCgUutMU69RSeason One of Musing on the Bard features a plethora of fascinating guests from Australia, the UK and the USA discussing Shakespeare, acting, creativity and more.Head to our official site for all listening links and more information: https://www.musingonthebard.com and don't forget to follow us so you don't miss a thing!As always, our fab Patreon patrons get early access to the episode before it goes live to the public. You can join our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/incognitaenterprisesMusing on the Bard: a podcast for the Shakespeare curious releases episodes every Wednesday at 9am AE

Musing on the Bard: a podcast for the Shakespeare curious is for those who are interested in Shakespeare and also for those who feel they should be interested in Shakespeare, but so far have not been lured by his charms. It’s about the craft of acting – we are all actors here, so no avoiding that – but it is also about the act of creating in general. It is about being human. About the mis-takes made while walking the creative road and what that taught us. About the success we might have achieved and what that taught us. All seasoned with a smattering of history and a lot of passion – for storytelling, creating, understanding and yes, for Shakespeare and his works.Throw in a touch of strong language and a healthy dose of irreverence and the result is: Musing on the Bard: a podcast for the Shakespeare curious. Welcome.Musing on the Bard has been created to mark the tenth anniversary of the critically acclaimed Australian digital series, Shakespeare Republic, hosted by award-winning Shakespeare Republic creator/director and Australian actor, Sally McLean and supported by the British Shakespeare Association.Through in-depth conversations with some of the fascinating, award-winning members of the Shakespeare Republic acting ensemble based in Australia, the UK and the USA, this podcast delves into each guest’s experience performing, directing or adapting Shakespeare’s works, the trials and tribulations of plying the acting craft, thoughts and musings on creativity and much, much more.Find out more about the podcast, our host and our guests on the official website here: https://www.musingonthebard.com